Aubry and Hollande have finally clashed over an issue: Which of them is the more devoted to austerity? With unemployment at 9.2%, one might have expected one of them to take the view that putting people to work should be the immediate priority, with deficit reduction relegated to some point in the future. But both appear to wish to portray themselves as "responsible" stewards of the economy rather than champions of the unemployed. Is this because the unemployed don't vote or contribute to campaign war chests? Or have both leading Socialists retreated to the criteria of the Maastricht treaty, which has demonstrated its inadequacy in so many ways, as a way of demonstrating their reliability and soundness as fiscal managers?

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I have been a student and observer of French politics since 1968. In that time I've translated more than 130 books from the French, including Tocqueville's Democracy in America and Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century. I chair the seminar for visiting scholars at Harvard's Center for European Studies and am a member of the editorial board of French Politics, Culture, and Society and of The Tocqueville Review/La revue Tocqueville. You can read some of my writing on French politics and history here and a short bio here. From time to time I will include posts by other students of France and French politics (accessible via the index link "guest"). My hope is that this site will become a gathering place for all who are interested in discussing and analyzing political life in France. You can keep track of posts on Twitter by following "artgoldhammer".